tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98960112024-03-13T10:33:19.515-06:00In My Little WorldValerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.comBlogger756125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-21790885809252942212009-04-10T20:09:00.004-06:002009-04-10T20:18:10.283-06:00New Blog and Website Relaunch!If you come here via RSS feed or other direct link, you'll need to revise the link on your blog or site. In My Little World has moved to...well, to <b>MY</b> little world. Please visit my relaunched website and new blog at <a href="http://valeriecomer.com">ValerieComer.Com</a>, poke around, and let me know what you think.<br /><br />I plan to leave the archives here, so this link will remain on top.<br /><br />I'd like to thank my daughter and webmaster <a href="http://hannaslifeiscool.blogspot.com">Hanna Sandvig</a> for all the work she's put into the new website (as well as the one it replaces). Hanna is an artist, illustrator, and geek who would love to design a site for you as well.<br /><br />Thanks for hanging out with me here on Blogger and I hope you'll enjoy the new site with me. See you over there!Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-48876722992672065002009-04-07T10:24:00.006-06:002009-04-07T10:37:27.045-06:00PetceteraLast Saturday my <a href="http://isblisslikethis.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">niece</a> and her family came by to visit. 10-month-old Micah got some one-on-one time with Brody. Can you tell he has his own dog at home?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/Sdt_Lqbxh0I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/uRi0nt2xsKc/s1600-h/DSC_0002.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/Sdt_Lqbxh0I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/uRi0nt2xsKc/s320/DSC_0002.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321987223014442818" /></a><br /><br />Brody would have loved to get closer!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/Sdt_h1JX0BI/AAAAAAAAAaE/oHl4I0YkDus/s1600-h/DSC_0004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/Sdt_h1JX0BI/AAAAAAAAAaE/oHl4I0YkDus/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321987603847172114" /></a><br /><br />But even though he <i>thinks</i> he's a lap dog doesn't mean he's little!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SduAAteZqnI/AAAAAAAAAaM/23lGxKSkkq8/s1600-h/DSC_0011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SduAAteZqnI/AAAAAAAAAaM/23lGxKSkkq8/s320/DSC_0011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321988134363834994" /></a><br /><br />In other news, our old kitty George is sick, and I don't think he's going to be with us much longer. A couple of days ago he felt well enough to be interested in the open window in the living room, though, so I took his picture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SduAl2RW8SI/AAAAAAAAAaU/oW0WHFrEcvo/s1600-h/DSC_0006.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SduAl2RW8SI/AAAAAAAAAaU/oW0WHFrEcvo/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321988772380209442" /></a><br /><br />The vet believes Georgie has abdominal tumors. He stopped eating over a month ago and barely drinks anything, even the tuna broth he's always loved. I keep putting it out for him, though, along with fresh water--George has always mistrusted water more than thirty seconds old.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-75041148049816569312009-04-05T21:09:00.004-06:002009-04-05T21:17:04.493-06:00Started again at the beginningI have to laugh that I thought I'd cut words with all the rewriting of the first fifteen pages. Not so much. Sure I cut a scene. I also added one. According to the over all word count once I'd shuffled my Word doc back into Scrivener, I added about 500 words with a honkin' huge 4550 word first chapter that defies chopping up. <br /><br />So I've been glancing through--not reading thoroughly--making a list of the scenes I have and seeing what seems choppable. Or at least snippable. I'm on Chapter 7 of 21 and have a growing list of places to tighten. I think I can do this without losing too much. And I think I must resist the siren call of all the places that beg to have the theme expanded, and deeper characterization. Etc.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-45748761325285531752009-04-02T19:57:00.002-06:002009-04-02T20:04:52.483-06:00First-and-a-Half Pass Done!Made it through to THE END of the romance rewrite this afternoon. Why am I calling it a first-and-a-half pass? Because so much of it turned out to be new material! I retyped the whole thing, even the scenes that came across reasonably intact, because I was hunting down passive voice and shallow point-of-view along with the deeper issues of wobbly plot.<br /><br />Next week I'll read through the whole thing and figure out if it works now. Doubtless I'll find a few things to change, to say nothing of the fact that I'm 3,000 words over the maximum allowed for my target publisher. 3K will be quite easy to cut, though. In fact, I may already have chopped a third of that as I tightened and retightened the opening pages for the Genesis contest. I'm not sure until I transfer the pages back into Scrivener, where I've been doing all the writing since then. (I had to do the pages in Word to make sure I had the formatting correct all the way through.)<br /><br />And then it's off to a few trusted critique buddies while I turn my attention to writing the workshop for May. I'm happy! :)Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-43269808936079034812009-04-01T22:54:00.004-06:002009-04-01T23:20:36.660-06:00Rise of the Dibor by Christopher Hopper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SdRJuE-AKUI/AAAAAAAAAZM/Q9DwUNrXqA0/s1600-h/dibor.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 234px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SdRJuE-AKUI/AAAAAAAAAZM/Q9DwUNrXqA0/s320/dibor.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319958115788007746" /></a><br />I've been looking for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0972548602" target="_blank">Rise of the Dibor</a> for a couple of years, since I started running into the author, <a href="http://www.christopherhopper.com/" target="_blank">Christopher Hopper</a>, online. He's a youth pastor in northern New York state and someone who loves and follows God with deep passion. He's also a worship leader and recording artist with eight cds.<br /><br />I was intrigued by the premise for Hopper's novel: <i>What if Adam and Eve had never sinned? Would Satan still have found a way to enter the world?</i> This fantasy novel takes place on Dionia, a sister-world to Earth, and shows how evil enters a pure and beautiful world. Luik and a group of his peers are trained to be <i>Dibor</i>, an elite force trained to do battle against the deceit of Morgui.<br /><br />The novel gets out to a slow start. This is both good and bad, because Hopper's intent (I'm sure!) is to show the world of Dionia before Morgui becomes strong there. And a perfect world, sadly, is a boring world. I found I skimmed parts of the first couple of chapters, especially a game of <i>rokla</i> sportscast in great detail. (If you want to know how <i>rokla</i> is played, read the novel!) <br /><br />Even if you don't care (and I didn't), you'll likely enjoy this richly imagined tale. Once things get rolling, Luik finds himself in the thick of things that come to a head after various people disappear and Morgui's army prepares to attack the capital city of Dionia. The skirmishes and battles are described as thoroughly as the <i>rokla</i> and to much better effect :) I'm looking forward to reading book 2, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1933853492" target="_blank">The Lion Vrie</a>, which just so happens to be at my local library waiting for me.<br /><br />One negative I really noticed with this novel is that it badly needed a fine-toothed comb edit pass as it was full of the kind of errors spell check doesn't catch. I was constantly pulled out of the story with homonym errors such as manor for manner, to name only one that happened numerous times. Punctuation errors such as missing periods and quotation marks did little to help me relax into the story. Still, the plot and characters exerted their effort to pull me back each time.<br /><br />The third novel is out soon (sorry, I can't remember the title!) and Hopper is also contracted by <a href="www.thomasnelson.com/" target="_blank">Thomas Nelson</a> to cowrite a Young Adult fantasy series with noted author <a href="http://enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wayne Thomas Batson</a>. The first novel in this series is out in the fall of 2009.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-26440318951851709472009-03-30T22:01:00.002-06:002009-03-30T22:15:34.004-06:00ConflictSome stories are bigger on conflict than others. But whether you're writing action-adventure or relationship stories, there had better be conflict. I'm one who avoids it like the plague in real life, so I've had to learn to enjoy inflicting it on my characters. I like nice people, but stories have to be populated with the less than perfect to be of any interest. I'm curious why this is so--why we are bored stiff reading about the kind of people we want our kids to turn out like? And yet it's true--stories without conflict don't catch hold of the reader and propel him or her to the other end like a rocket launcher.<br /><br />Conflict doesn't have to be big stuff. There doesn't have to be a dead body on every page to keep momentum. In fact, that's the kind of conflict that will turn me off, as a reader. Not everyone, of course. Conflict can be as small as characters arguing over what's for dinner. I think the main thing is that the minor conflicts need to play into the major conflicts. <b>Why</b> are the characters arguing over dinner? Is it a symptom of a problem in the relationship? A refusal of one to acknowledge the life-threatening allergies of the other? Or something else? Because honestly, if *what's for dinner* makes no difference to the growth of the characters or to the main story plotline, it doesn't work as a source of conflict.<br /><br />Sure, it allows the maxim of conflict on every page to be fulfilled, but a novel is more than random conflict. They have to build and intertwine and matter to one another. If the conflict is merely an irritant and doesn't actually <b>matter</b>, it isn't the kind of conflict they're talking about here.<br /><br />In the same way, if the characters keep tripping over dead bodies, the story had better be <b>about</b> the dead bodies. They'd better not be in there to represent conflict unless it matters to the story's plot line. There's lots more to writing a novel than stringing 100,000 words together. Even pretty words. Or gritty words. They need to be more than loosely related vignettes, at least in genre writing.<br /><br />That's my thought for tonight!Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-27180655503908736852009-03-25T10:25:00.001-06:002009-03-25T10:25:42.290-06:00Book Tour--Turning the PaigeTurning the Paige<br /><br />When I saw this title in the upcoming blog tour list, I took a second look because I have a character named Paige in one of my works-in-progress. Then I noticed that <a href="http://www.laurajensenwalker.com" target="_blank">Laura Jensen Walker</a>'s character is a divorced woman of 35 who moves back in with her aging high-maintenance (read: passive-aggressive manipulating) mother, and I thought that I might enjoy the tale.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310276985" target="_blank">Turning the Paige</a> is a great read in many ways. I got sucked straight in with this opening:<br /><br /><blockquote>My mother killed my marriage. Stomped all over it with her Pepto-Bismol pink pumps and ground it to divorce dust.<br /><br />Okay, maybe that's not entirely fair. Mom wasn't solely responsible for the destruction of my marriage. Like many couple, Eric and I had some problems. But the biggest one was my mother. I turned the page in our wedding album on what would have been our five-year anniversary to a close-up of the two of us--happy, bright, shining, and in love. So in love. But that was then and this is now.<br /><br />My fingers moved up the glossy page to the cleft in Eric's jaw. I loved that Kirk Douglas cleft and had spent many happy hours kissing it. And the delicious lips above it. Now someone else was kissing them.<br /><br />I slammed the album shut. And as I shoved it back into the closet, the phone rang. I walked over to the nightstand to check the caller ID. Probably a telemarketer.<br /><br />As the phone continued to ring, I squinted at the name. Now where'd I put my reading glasses? By the time I finally found them, the answering machine had clicked on.<br /><br />"Paige?" My mother's querulous voice filled the air. "Are you there? Or are you out again? Seems like you're never home anymore." She released a loud sigh. "I was hoping you could come over for just a minute and pull down my other quilt from the top of the linen closet. This one's getting too hot and heavy." She lobbed one of her famous guilt grenades. "Oh well, guess I'll just have to make do. Talk to you soon."<br /><br />My turn to expel a loud sigh.</blockquote><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m32TlugOPkM/ScmbdnTJEqI/AAAAAAAACss/GwCn7AB3ybw/s1600-h/turningthepaige.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m32TlugOPkM/ScmbdnTJEqI/AAAAAAAACss/GwCn7AB3ybw/s320/turningthepaige.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316951768155361954" /></a>Paige also has a sister, Isobel; though she lives many miles away she plays an important role in the novel. I enjoyed the story up until the last few chapters. They seemed to be a travel guide to Scotland that, while interesting, didn't keep the plot moving. Something else in the very end came as a bolt out of the blue to me, totally unforeshadowed. Even so, the ending was satisfying and I'd read another book by this author.<br /><br />This novel is part of a women's fiction series called Getaway Girls, in which Paige and her friends have a book club and often plan adventures that echo those in the books they're reading. I can really see this kind of series working in women's fiction, because you get to know the various characters but focus on different ones in each book. I was also amused that one of the other women in the series was named Chloe. I've got a Chloe and a Paige in the same novel, too!Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-3919724189501061042009-03-23T11:56:00.003-06:002009-03-23T12:03:49.656-06:00Walk Along the BeachWhen the calendar turns to spring, apparently it means it. Saturday it rained most of the day and well into the night, but then cleared off. Sunday after church we decided to head for a walk to one of our favorite places (we have a lot of those!) where the river channel meets the lake. Everything is very low water this time of year, held back by dams in preparation for glacial melt over the next few months.<br /><br />One of the cool things in our area this time of year is that trumpeter swans rest here on their way back to their Arctic breeding grounds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/ScfOeMP_SGI/AAAAAAAAAYU/jyAxmuP90EI/s1600-h/DSC_0006a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/ScfOeMP_SGI/AAAAAAAAAYU/jyAxmuP90EI/s320/DSC_0006a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316444903213844578" /></a><br /> <br />More photos are in an <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70540&id=779419857&l=2773e3f026" target="_blank">album at Facebook</a>.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-50865755346959478702009-03-20T20:06:00.003-06:002009-03-20T20:34:07.871-06:00Genesis contestHaving experienced a measure of success in the <a href="http://www.acfw.com/genesis/" target="_blank">ACFW Genesis contest</a> the past two years, this year I decided to try out some of the other genres I've been writing in. This morning I got my third (and final!) entry into the '09 contest. I've had a lot of help over the past couple of months from my critique partners as I've polished three sets of 15 opening pages and their accompanying single-page synopses. Now they're out of my hair and can be ignored until the first round results are released in early May.<br /><br />Next week I'm back to the romance rewrite, currently sitting at almost 45K out of 60. Back to critiquing, back to workshop writing, back to rebuilding my website, and back to *normal* writing life. Whatever that is.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-45643446191681945402009-03-18T07:48:00.002-06:002009-03-18T07:53:50.167-06:00Hunter Brown Day 3So today it is time for my infamous practice of posting the first few paragraphs of a novel and picking them apart. We'll get that over with first. Here is the opening of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593173288" target="_blank">Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>It was the last day of school and I was running for my life. My friends and I had just pulled one of the best pranks ever. It's not like we were <i>trying</i> to get in trouble, it's just that we were determined to get even with the school bully before summer break. After all, Cranton had gone out of his way more than once to make my life miserable this year so it wasn't as if he didn't deserve it. Besides, the last day of school was the perfect time for payback.<br /><br />Stretch and I had planned out the whole thing weeks in advance. We called it <i>Project:Fireball</i>, and elaborate scheme that required hijacking a bag of brownies from my sister's bake sale and modifying them with a bottle of <i>Stu's Unreasonably Wicked Hot Sauce</i>. All we needed was a decoy. Kitty Swanson, the most popular girl in the whole school, had been Cranton's crush for the entire year and was the perfect candidate. The objective was simple enough: inject the brownies with hot sauce and leave them in a bag on Cranton's "reserved" cafeteria table, along with a note from Kitty in the girliest handwriting we could manage.<br /><br />Stretch and I watched with anticipation, recording every moment of our latest attempt to humiliate Cranton on my video camera. If everything went as planned we would be posting the footage on our Web site for the whole world to see. It would be the thirteenth and final installment of our online video series. Our subscriber list had grown considerably over the school year as we devised and recorded some of the greatest pranks ever achieved by a student at Destiny Hills High School.</blockquote><br /><br />Thinking back over the whole novel, I'm not sure this lead-up directly feeds into the main plot. It does show that the narrator, Hunter, is a prankster with a history of being the underdog and trying to get even. Does this pull you in?<br /><br />The first few pages really felt like a knock-off of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Neverending-Story-Michael-Ende/dp/0525457585/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237150346&sr=1-1" target="_blank">The Never Ending Story</a> with a couple of major plot points in common: getting trapped in a dumpster or garbage bin in an effort to escape the bullies, and finding themselves in a magical bookstore with a magical book.<br /><br />I'm really happy to announce that the book, while obviously allegorical (and therefore a little predictable, but maybe not to tweens!), struck off into more original territory after that. One of my favorite bits involved the fantasy mounts of Solandria (giant iguanas, pg 255-6):<br /><br /><blockquote>"Man, I'm going to regret this," I said, closing my eyes and cracking the reins. The creature lurched up the tree with a jerk, and before you could say, "What am I getting myself into?" it scampered up and came to a sudden stop. My head was aching, and when at last I opened my eyes, I discovered why. I was hanging precariously upside down on the underside of a tree limb--the very same limb that Hope was currently occupying above me, or was that below me? <i>How is this even possible</i>, I wondered, looking down, which was up, at the Ugua's grasp on the branch. It reminded me of the little gecko I'd found climbing the walls and the ceilings of my grandparents' condo in Hawaii three years ago. I never did figure out what kept the gecko up there.<br /><br />I looked up, which was down, at Stretch, who was still uncommitted, staring up in disbelief.<br /><br />"Come on, Stretch," I called down. "It's not as bad as it looks." <i>Who was I kidding? I was terrified.</i></blockquote><br /><br />All in all? I think this novel by <a href="http://themillerbrothers.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Miller Brothers</a> will be a great read for its target audience, kids age 9-12 or thereabouts. The second installment in the series will soon be available.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-73092887949828499322009-03-17T10:05:00.000-06:002009-03-17T10:06:04.426-06:00Hunter Brown Day 2What is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593173288" target="_blank">Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow</a> actually about?<br /><blockquote>Strange visions...hideous monsters...startling revelations...Hunter Brown never expected a summer like this, and it's only getting started! After one of his infamous pranks backfires, Hunter unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient book and key. Little does he know the mysterious book is a gateway to Solandria, a supernatural realm held captive by the Shadow.<br /><br />In Solandria, Hunter joins forces with the Codebearers, a band of highly trained warriors who form the Resistance to the Shadow. But before he can complete his training in the Code of Life, Hunter is sent on a mission far more dangerous than he ever bargained for. Now with his life in peril and the future of Solandria hanging in the balance, Hunter is headed for a showdown with the Shadow and a battle to save his soul from a fate worse than death!<br /><br /><i>Is Hunter's knowledge of the Code deep enough to uncover the secret of the Shadow, or will the truth be more than he can bear?</i></blockquote><br /><br />If I were a kid in the target age for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593173288" target="_blank">Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow</a>, I think I'd love the website that the authors, The Miller Brothers, developed for <a href="http://codebearers.com/" target="_blank">the Codebearers series</a>. Here things come to life, and I discover that The Miller Brothers are first and foremost animators, which explains the cover of the novel to a large degree. They designed it themselves, and it matches the website. Or vice versa.<br /><br />Have a look at this great video imbedded on the main page: <br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/gYJ2vop4jYIj" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" height="458" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><br /><br />There are games and forums and a whole great little world hidden away on this website. Check it out!<br /><br />You can also read the entire novel online by <a href="http://www.codebearers.com/READTHEBOOKS/SecretOftheShadows/tabid/315/Default.aspx" target="_blank">clicking here</a>. The animation involved in the turning pages is quite awesome!<br /><br />Why would <a href="http://themillerbrothers.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Miller Brothers</a> give away their novel? They're hoping (I'm guessing here!) to encourage folks to purchase this book for the kids in their life. You can buy autographed copies through the site. The bound novel has great *feel*, browned edged pages, brown on cream typeset. Besides, it's just fun to hold a novel in your hands. And rumor has it that there are clues in the book that help with the games on the website. Clever!!<br /><br />Can you think of any reasons to give away novels online? I'm interested in any or all opinions on this matter.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-88102725462966108572009-03-16T10:42:00.005-06:002009-03-16T10:49:31.565-06:00Hunter Brown and the Secret of the ShadowThis month the <a href="http://csffblogtour.com/" target="_blank">CSFF Blog Tour</a> is touring another YA fantasy book. I share my novels with several families with teens and tweens so I'm not generally against reading these books and talking about them, though I'd prefer more adult-oriented novels for me.<br /><br />When I opened the package containing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593173288" target="_blank">Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow</a>, my first response was that it was a cute cover but I didn't remember that the book was geared for children. However, I order the books a couple of months in advance, so I figured I'd just forgotten. I wasn't in the mood for a kids' story so it took a few days for me to open the book and start to read.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/Sb6CLW0jpJI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/xR0BjS0VIvs/s1600-h/hunterbrown.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 156px; height: 238px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/Sb6CLW0jpJI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/xR0BjS0VIvs/s320/hunterbrown.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313827741959955602" /></a>Have a good look at this cover. Can you see why I was surprised to discover that the characters are fourteen years old? I held the book up for my husband to see, and asked him what age the cover looked like it would appeal to. He came up with the same number I had: that it looked like it was for eight-year-olds.<br /><br />Please remember it's been nearly 20 years since we've had an 8yo in the house, so we may not be the best folks to guess at characters' portrayed ages. But my gut instinct was that no 10-14 year old (the target age for books about a 14 year old) would want to be caught reading a book that looked like it was intended for an 8 year old.<br /><br />I went to <a href="http://warnerpress.org" target="_blank">the publisher's website</a> and found that they don't publish a lot of novels and wondered if they were simply inexperienced in the way of appealing covers. Then I went to the website for the novels and revised my opinions again! Tomorrow I'll talk more about <a href="http://codebearers.com/" target="_blank">the website</a> and what it adds to the experience of the books. And what that has to do with the book's cover.<br /><br />Here's what other bloggers are saying:<br /><a href="http://www.christiansciencefiction.blogspot.com"> Brandon Barr</a>, <a href="http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/"> Keanan Brand</a>, <a href="http://www.thebooknook08.blogspot.com"> Melissa Carswell</a>, <a href="http://www.the160acrewoods.com/"> Amy Cruson</a>, <a href="http://csffblogtour.com/"> CSFF Blog Tour</a>, <a href="http://word-up-studies.blogspot.com"> Stacey Dale</a>, <a href="http://www.scificatholic.com/"> D. G. D. Davidson</a>, <a href="http://sjdeal.blogspot.com"> Shane Deal</a>, <a href="http://scriptoriusrex.blogspot.com/"> Jeff Draper</a>, <a href="http://projectinga.blogspot.com/"> April Erwin</a>, <a href="http://virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/"> Karina Fabian</a>, <a href="http://www.goodwordediting.com/"> Marcus Goodyear</a>, <a href="http://anewnovelistsjourney.blogspot.com"> Todd Michael Greene</a>, <a href="http://writingchristiannovels.blogspot.com/"> Katie Hart</a>, <a href="http://realmofhearts.blogspot.com/"> Ryan Heart</a>, <a href="http://fantasythyme.blogspot.com"> Timothy Hicks</a>, <a href="http://tiredgarden.info"> Jason Isbell</a>, <a href="http://crisjesse.wordpress.com"> Cris Jesse</a>, <a href="http://www.spoiledfortheordinary.blogspot.com/"> Jason Joyner</a>, <a href="http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/"> Carol Keen</a>, <a href="http://www.mikelynchbooks.blogspot.com"> Mike Lynch</a>, <a href="http://sparksoflava.blogspot.com/"> Magma</a>, <a href="http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/"> Rebecca LuElla Miller</a>, <a href="http://linalamont.blogspot.com"> Nissa</a>, <a href="http://betterfiction.com/blog/"> Wade Ogletree</a>, <a href="http://www.leastread.blogspot.com/"> John W. Otte</a>, <a href="http://ansric.blogspot.com/"> Steve Rice</a>, <a href="http://prochristroetlibertate.blogspot.com/"> Crista Richey</a>, <a href="http://www.chawnaschroeder.blogspot.com/"> Chawna Schroeder</a>, <a href="http://www.jamessomers.blogspot.com/"> James Somers</a>, <a href="http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/inklings/"> Rachel Starr Thomson</a>, <a href="http://christiansf.blogspot.com/"> Steve Trower</a>, <a href="http://specfaith.ritersbloc.com/"> Speculative Faith</a>, <a href="http://frederation.wordpress.com"> Fred Warren</a>, <a href="http://www.Christian-Fantasy-Book-Reviews.com/"> Phyllis Wheeler</a>, <a href="http://www.novelteen.com/"> Jill Williamson</a>Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-79556505564550554692009-03-15T12:28:00.004-06:002009-03-15T13:04:19.744-06:00There's more to life!Although the main focus of this blog is the written word, there is more to my life than writing and reading. More than walking, too, though it does take up 1.5-2 hours of nearly every day for me since I joined a few friends last year in an online <a href="http://walkingtosomewhere.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">walking blog</a>. I'm currently about 2/3 of the way north on the Appalachian Trail!<br /><br />I've talked a few times about the farm, about the garden, about healthy eating. A few years ago I dabbled in a recipe book project but realized after a few months that I didn't have the drive to make that succeed. I've recently moved the recipes out of the closed forums and into a publicly accessible wiki: <a href="http://healthyrecipebox.pbwiki.com/" target="_blank">Healthy Recipe Box</a>. If you'd care to browse through the recipes I've got stored there and use them, go ahead. You don't have to sign up for anything, and I won't even know you're there unless you wish to comment, in which case you'll have to join the wiki so that I can grant you the power to comment.<br /><br />Most of the recipes there are fairly low G.I. (<a href="http://www.gidiet.com" target="_blank">glycemic index</a>), and most of them are ones we eat fairly regularly. I keep adding recipes as I come across other family favorites. I hope you enjoy our *down-home* recipes.<br /><br />But that's only part of the story, of course. Where do the ingredients come from?<br /><br />In our case, a lot of our food comes from our farm and garden. Jim and I grow our own beef and many of our vegetables. We live in a fruit-growing area: apples, cherries, peaches, pears, apricots. In the summer we don't spend a lot on groceries. We watched the back-to-the-land movement in the 70s and 80s from our rural background, wondering how folks had gotten so far away from knowing where their food came from.<br /><br />In the past few years, since the books <a href="http://100milediet.org/" target="_blank">100 Mile Diet</a> and <a href="http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/" target="_blank">Animal, Vegetable, Miracle</a> came out, there's been a huge resurgence toward local, organic, sustainable eating. That's a good thing. We haven't jumped on this thing with whole abandon, but are definitely increasing awareness once again, thanks to our kids. We're also looking at more ways to use the forty acres we have to contribute to our own food and that of other local residents. If this is the type of lifestyle that interests you, you might want to follow our new blog, <a href="http://food-from-scratch.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Scratch</a>. I won't be talking about most of those issues here much, so don't expect cross-posts.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-53120468294562822902009-03-10T14:47:00.003-06:002009-03-10T14:51:21.472-06:00Pern novelsIn response to my MICE post on Sunday, I said I wondered if Anne McCaffrey's Pern series had come about from a milieu (setting) spark, so I wandered over to <a href="http://annemccaffrey.net" target="_blank">her website</a> and found the answer in her <a href="http://annemccaffrey.net/index.php?page_id=40" target="_blank">FAQ posts</a>. Here's what she says:<br /><blockquote>Back in 1967, I was sitting in my living room in Sea Cliff, Long Island, wondering what sort of creatures I could use in my next story. Since S-F is a “what-if” form of fiction, I suddenly wondered, “what if dragons were the good guys?” Then I had to develop a planet which needed a renewable airforce against some unknown menace and came up with Pern, dragons, Thread and humans who Impressed a hatchling in a lifelong symbiotic relationship. Rather wonderful to have an intelligent partner that loves you unconditionally. Who wouldn’t like a forty-foot telepathic dragon as their best friend? By the time my (then) children got home from school, I knew how it would all start: “Lessa woke cold.” I finished Weyr Search by summer and John W. Campbell bought it immediately for ANALOG Magazine and asked me to do more stories about Pern.</blockquote><br />Guess that answers that. Pern started out as an idea series, not milieu.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-12558403219695251812009-03-08T22:22:00.002-06:002009-03-08T22:32:44.436-06:00MICEHa, I bet that got your attention! I'm talking about Orson Scott Card's four-cornered story foundation, not four-legged cat food.<br /><br /><B>MICE</b> stands for: <b>M</b>ileu (or setting), <b>I</b>dea, <b>C</b>haracter, and <b>E</b>vent. Novels need to have all of these in place to be a well-rounded story. (I'd like to say they'd have to have all four to be on a store shelf, but I'm sure someone could point to an example of a book that doesn't!)<br /><br />What I'm curious about these days is: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The rage these days is for character-driven stories. Trust me, I totally understand that. I like nothing more than to get right in there in characters' heads and experience life through them. It's why I prefer novels in tight third POV or even in first to pretty much anything in omniscient.<br /><br />But is it necessary to have the character appear in the writers' mind first for the story to be character-driven? I'd like to think that, no matter what the starting point, an experienced writer can pull all the parts of <b>MICE</b> together seamlessly so that it isn't obvious to the reader where the story came from originally.<br /><br />That said, I tend to come up with ideas first, then audition characters to find the ones who'd like to explore my ideas. What comes first in your mind?Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-51421077146991079162009-03-03T18:20:00.003-07:002009-03-03T18:27:30.927-07:00Story MathSo the original romance novel that I wrote during NaNo was about 54,000 words. The market I'm aiming for is 55-60K. I threw out a bunch of scenes and added new ones. Apparently they are longer ones!<br /><br />Today I discovered that, at 38K, I've reached the half-way point of my printed-out copy of the original draft. Kinda scares me. I can't afford this book to come in at 76,000! I'm on scene 25 of 53, which seems to tell me about the same thing, lengthwise.<br /><br />On the other hand, half of the original length is 27K, so if I add 27 (what's LEFT to rewrite) to the current 38, I get 65, which should be much easier to whittle down to 60 than 76 would be.<br /><br />I'm always on the other end of this stick, trying to lengthen without padding! It's new to be worried about over-length. However I slice it, though, I have a whole bunch of words to go, so I refuse to sweat about it this week. When I actually get through Scene # 53 is when I'll figure out a plan of attack.<br /><br />I'm still on target for finishing this pass by the end of March, unless it really does turn out to be 76... Nah. I'm NOT going to worry about that today.<br /><br />I'm not.<br /><br />Still, that's kinda long, isn't it?Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-83083478554438595372009-03-02T09:07:00.004-07:002009-03-02T09:26:05.791-07:00Book Tour--Love Finds You...in Humble, TexasSummerside Press is publishing a series called <a href="http://summersidepress.com/pages/seriespages/LoveFindsYouSeries.html" target="_blank">Love Finds You</a>:<br /><blockquote>Want a peek into local American life--past and present? The <i>Love Finds You</i><sup>TM</sup> series published by Summerside Press features real towns and combines travel, romance, and faith in one irresistible package!</blockquote><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m32TlugOPkM/SatJda4dBUI/AAAAAAAACqs/3lfLZTxl2IQ/s1600-h/lovefindsyou.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 153px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m32TlugOPkM/SatJda4dBUI/AAAAAAAACqs/3lfLZTxl2IQ/s320/lovefindsyou.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308417355567400258" /></a><br />How does it work? Well, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1934770612" target="_blank"> (Love Finds You) in Humble Texas</a> is the only book in the series that I've read.<br /><br />I mentioned recently that I don't read a lot of romances--not because I don't love love as much as the next gal, but because it seems a bit of a stretch to invent so many ways to keep a couple apart realistically for the sake of the story. And yet, the convention of a novel requires that there be true conflict. Preferably something that isn't obviously too manufactured. (Well, that's kind of funny, being as of course the author is manipulating it all, but you know what I mean...don't you?) Being as I'm rewriting a romance novel of my own these days, I'm constantly watching out for what is *realistic* and what isn't.<br /><br />So the set-up for this story is that two sisters--one an image consultant and very *together*, and the other a retail worker who lacks self-confidence--both fall in love with the same man. Miss Priss saw him first, decided he wasn't the guy for her, sets him up with her sister, then decides she loves him after all and wants him back. The humble, introspective sister is very kind and allows this to happen...if the guy is willing. But of course they don't tell him what's up. <br /><br />To me this arrangement took a bit to get off the ground. When Trudie, the heroine, allowed her younger sister Lane to get another chance at the gorgeous Mason, I wasn't invested in her character enough yet to see this as believable. Once the story got rolling, it mostly worked, but the introduction to the issue felt awkward to me.<br /><br />Here's the opening paragraph:<br /><blockquote>Trudie Abernathy always wondered about two things. First, how was it that some people could live charmed lives while others accumulated troubles like those beetles that spent their time rolling up balls of dung? And secondly, how could one person fall in love as effortlessly as a sneeze, while another hobbled along on love as if it were a twisted ankle?</blockquote><br />One of the premises of the entire series is that the interesting name of the featured town be a significant part of the story. Thus Trudie of Humble, Texas, is the *humble* sister, but in the end things work out well for everyone. I read the novel in a couple of evenings and found much to enjoy. Enough to make me wonder what cool town names haven't been written about yet in this series!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.anitahigman.com/" target="_blank">Anita Higman</a> is the author of over 20 books ranging from romances to mysteries to devotionals to plays to children's books. Wow, busy gal with a diverse set of interests! She lives in Texas. But not, I believe, in Humble.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-86002382958039831072009-02-28T19:06:00.002-07:002009-02-28T19:07:55.529-07:00Agents?I've heard this is what an agent's life is like. What do you think?<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4wp3m1vg06Q&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4wp3m1vg06Q&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />(Thanks to Rachelle Gardner at WordServe!)Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-10927151660454433352009-02-27T09:50:00.002-07:002009-02-27T10:11:51.320-07:00Pushing for wordsMy main excitement these days is the romance rewrite, so there's not a lot of variety in my life. There isn't room for it when I'm pushing for 3000 words a day around customers, sales dudes, and freight trucks. I admire folks who can work all day and still put out a meaningful set of words regularly in the evening. My brain just shuts down. (My kids used to call 10pm Mommy Pumpkin Time, but I have to admit 9pm isn't much better!)<br /><br />Looks like I'll be up for teaching a workshop at <a href="http://www.fmwriters.com" target="_blank">Forward Motion</a> in May, so I'm mulling over that and will soon have to start doing more than mulling and actually start planning!<br /><br />In other news, my website redesign is coming along nicely. The old one is still what's showing when you click over, but I'm hoping to launch the new-and-improved version sometime in March. <a href="http://hanna-sandvig.com" target="_blank">My daughter</a> is doing the design and tech work on WordPress. Adding static pages is my job, and one I've already started. Coming soon to a <a href="http://valeriecomer.com" target="_blank">valeriecomer.com</a> near you!Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-36161406070855473902009-02-22T12:42:00.011-07:002009-02-22T13:04:50.758-07:00Winter WalkIt's been a couple years probably since I've posted a photo tour of where I walk daily. This morning it was -15 Celcius (about +5F) and the hoar frost was intensively beautiful. I waited till the sun came up (after 9) to walk Brody and grabbed the camera. We've had only a couple of small snowfalls since the first week of January. Since then, most days have been about the same temperature (cold!) and foggy and/or cloudy. It's nice to see the sun. Here it is peeking through a frost-covered tree at the end of our driveway:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGr0g7ywFI/AAAAAAAAATQ/pX4F6msCNlY/s1600-h/DSC_0035.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGr0g7ywFI/AAAAAAAAATQ/pX4F6msCNlY/s320/DSC_0035.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305710754701426770" /></a><br /><br />Not far west on our one-mile-long road is what I call The Sentinel. Remind you of anyone you know?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGsQBorVcI/AAAAAAAAATY/tQjgaV0fr3U/s1600-h/DSC_0042.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGsQBorVcI/AAAAAAAAATY/tQjgaV0fr3U/s320/DSC_0042.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305711227336086978" /></a><br /><br />A bit farther west there are trees on both sides of the road:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGsrwRBd9I/AAAAAAAAATg/mXfqVkimL6k/s1600-h/DSC_0045.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGsrwRBd9I/AAAAAAAAATg/mXfqVkimL6k/s320/DSC_0045.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305711703709808594" /></a><br /><br />Our road ends on private property just beyond the irrigation channel, so it's Brody's and my turnaround spot. Here we've just turned back. The neighbors have been enjoying the speedway of the channel!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGtJcbhrpI/AAAAAAAAATo/ANdEo-qSQRA/s1600-h/DSC_0052.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGtJcbhrpI/AAAAAAAAATo/ANdEo-qSQRA/s320/DSC_0052.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305712213781229202" /></a><br /><br />Here are the neighbor's corrals:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGt9Hu3kWI/AAAAAAAAATw/NDZcaIMWKYs/s1600-h/DSC_0054.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGt9Hu3kWI/AAAAAAAAATw/NDZcaIMWKYs/s320/DSC_0054.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305713101578408290" /></a><br /><br />Somebody I know loves the snow and isn't near as tired of the cold as I am!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGuYXYRI7I/AAAAAAAAAT4/Ac1dsXTFRoU/s1600-h/DSC_0056.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGuYXYRI7I/AAAAAAAAAT4/Ac1dsXTFRoU/s320/DSC_0056.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305713569635050418" /></a><br /><br />That same somebody loves to eat rose hips; I'm surprised there are any left on the bushes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGuzoQFjOI/AAAAAAAAAUA/0Ddnicxt-9c/s1600-h/DSC_0059.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGuzoQFjOI/AAAAAAAAAUA/0Ddnicxt-9c/s320/DSC_0059.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305714038020607202" /></a><br /><br />Just about back to our farm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGvCbeWUhI/AAAAAAAAAUI/voxIRfIXAws/s1600-h/DSC_0061.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGvCbeWUhI/AAAAAAAAAUI/voxIRfIXAws/s320/DSC_0061.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305714292288803346" /></a><br /><br />And when I look south-east again, towards the sun, I see there are still wisps of fog in that direction.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGvVFxhUyI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/Yox4bO0l74U/s1600-h/DSC_0039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SaGvVFxhUyI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/Yox4bO0l74U/s320/DSC_0039.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305714612881150754" /></a><br /><br />I hope you enjoyed this virtual walk. I'm sure it was warmer for you than it was for me!Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-33425913351096950872009-02-19T19:21:00.002-07:002009-02-19T19:40:13.380-07:00Rewriting versus Revising versus EditingSeems like folks have different definitions for these three terms. Today you get mine.<br /><br /><b>Editing</b> a novel is the final polish. It's the act of catching typos and clarifying confused sentences and adding in a bit of five-dimensional senses. If your novel is in good enough shape that all it needs is an edit, you can expect to make speedy progress through this draft.<br /><br /><b>Revising</b> is where most of my second (and sometimes third) drafts live. I need to shift scenes around, rewrite some scenes completely to get more depth, maybe change up the pov character. When I'm revising, I've got the bones of the story pretty well but still need to wrastle it into shape.<br /><br /><b>Rewriting</b> is more drastic yet, and that's where I am this week with the romance novel. Some scenes in this book needed revising, mostly in depth of character point-of-view. But the scenes that needed replacing really really needed replacing in their entirety. As in, parts of the over all novel plotline worked and parts didn't. This week I'm in the midst of a section that didn't. (The lame part that had me scrawling <i>Seriously????</i> in the print-out margins...) I've added a complete new subplot and other new bits to amp up this part and help to complete the whole.<br /><br />Still, to get through the entire 60,000-word novel by the end of March means I need to keep to about 10K a week. This week that 10K has been all new material. Take out a day to intensely revise a one-page synopsis in chat, and suddenly you're looking at 2500-word days instead of 2000. Lose a second day to customers, and you're mighty thankful you got a bit ahead last week. However, I've made 3K each of the last two days and if I can pull off 2K tomorrow, I'm still pretty much on track. Big if, being as it's a half day. Wish me luck!Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-37581791034251709832009-02-18T09:08:00.001-07:002009-02-18T09:11:23.379-07:00Book Tour--Cyndere's Midnight--Day3I'm always interested in a novel's hook. The first few paragraphs go a long way in either enticing me to read more or allowing me to set the book down for *later*. Of course, sometimes later never comes. An author such as <a href=" http://lookingcloser.org/category/journal/" target="_blank">Jeffrey Overstreet</a>, whom I've already learned to trust may get a bit more of a break than someone I haven't read before.<br /><br /><a href=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a> starts with a brief prologue. I'm about as much of a fan of prologues, in general, as I am of omniscient point of view. This prologue reveals Auralia (though not named) working her colorful magic in The Expanse, proving that she is still there but choosing not to be seen.<br /><br />Chapter one starts with Cyndere (pronounced SIN-der):<br /><blockquote>Cyndere walked down to the water to make her daily decision--turn and go back into House Bel Amica, or climb Stairway Rock and throw herself into the sea.</blockquote><br />Okay, I have to pause here. As first sentences go, that one is an attention grabber. We have a character who has a habit--a habit of choosing every single day whether this is the day she will suicide or not. I don't know about you, but I kept right on reading. What had happened to her to make this sort of despair a part of her routine? And why, if it was so very tempting, hadn't she done it yet? Back to the opening:<br /><br /><blockquote>It had become a habit. Leaving her chambers early, while the mirror-lined hallways were empty of all but servants, she would traverse many bridges, stairs, and passages and emerge on the shores of the Rushtide Inlet, escaping the gravity of distraction. Today in the autumn bluster, she wore her husband's woolen stormcloak at the water's edge. She brought her anger. She brought her dead.<br /><br />While the fog erased the wild seascape, waves exploded against the ocean's scattered stone teeth, washed wide swaths of pebbles, and sighed into the sand. They carried her father's whispers from many years past, mornings when he had walked with her along the tide's edge and dreamt aloud. His bristling gray beard smelled of salt, prickling when he rested his chin on her head. He would place one hand on her shoulder and with the other hold a seashell to her ear. "Hear that?" he'd say. "That's your very own far-off country. You will walk on ground no one has ever seen. And I'm going to find it for you when I venture out to map the Mystery Sea."<br /><br />He had done just that. While Cyndere's mother, Queen Thesera, stayed home to govern her people within House Bel Amica's massive swell of stone, King Helpryn discovered islands, sites for future Bel Amican settlements.<br /><br />A shipwreck took the king when he tried to cross a stormy span between those islands.</blockquote><br />Most all the reading I've done about opening scenes says not to give too much backstory right up front. First the reader needs to care about the character NOW before she gives a rip how the character came to this moment of their lives. Yet after this sordid beginning Overstreet goes on to document, albeit poetically, the demise of Cyndere's brother and husband. How does he keep our attention through what is basically three pages of history? Because of the strength of that opening sentence. Let me repeat it:<br /><br /><blockquote><b>Cyndere walked down to the water to make her daily decision--turn and go back into House Bel Amica, or climb Stairway Rock and throw herself into the sea.</b></blockquote><br />In her book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Writing-Fiction-Beginnings-Middles/dp/0898799058/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234721009&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Beginnings, Middles & Ends</a>, Nancy Kress provides us with The Swimming Pool Theory: <blockquote>Structuring fiction is like kicking off from the side of a swimming pool. The stronger and more forceful your opening kick, the longer you can glide through the water. The stronger and more forceful your opening scene, the less your reader will mind a "glide" through nondramatized backfill.</blockquote><br />I think Overstreet's opening sentence is strong enough to propel us through three pages that show us what led up to it. Do you?<br /><br />As near as I can figure out, there are two more strands to Auralia's Thread. Strand 3, Cal-Raven's Ladder, is due out in 2010.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-89672027012061128912009-02-17T09:39:00.001-07:002009-02-17T09:41:16.295-07:00Book Tour--Cyndere's Midnight--Day2I've spent much of the past week mulling over <a href=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a>. What did I like better than <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1400072522" target="_blank">Auralia's Colors</a>? Was there anything that didn't live up to the potential of the first book?<br /><br />What I liked better, for sure, was the more defined third person point-of-view, getting closer to the characters, getting into their skins, feeling what makes them tick. I also liked that there was more action, and a more discernable plot line. I'd loved the poetic grace of <a href=" http://lookingcloser.org/category/journal/" target="_blank">Jeffrey Overstreet</a>'s prose in the first book, but I have to say that it wasn't greatly diminished by the faster pace of book two. This is a strong, well-written book.<br /><br />The Christian Manifesto posted an <a href="http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/an-interview-with-jeffrey-overstreet-author-of-cynderes-midnight/" target="_blank">interview</a> with Overstreet in which they discussed <a href=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a>. Feel free to read the whole thing, but here are a couple of bits I'd like to explore further.<br /><br />Overstreet says:<br /><blockquote>I was five years old. I saw an ad for Jaws in the paper. You know the ad—that famous image of the swimmer, and the beast rising up from underneath. That picture still scares me. It made quite an impression on my five-year-old imagination. And for the first time, I coped with my fear by writing a story about it. It was called “The Sea Monster,” 9 or 10 pages of green paper with felt-tip pen drawings, stapled together. I have it in a file somewhere. It was just a story in drawings, but I turned it into an epic battle between a swimmer and a thing with massive jaws. I just had to resolve that tension, that closing gap between the woman and the monster.<br /><br />Now, Cyndere’s Midnight is in bookstores—and what is it? Well, on one level, it’s a story about a beautiful woman and a monster with big teeth… and that scary space between them.</blockquote><br />I have to say I didn't see anything of the movie <b>Jaws</b> in this novel, so I found it intensely interesting that Overstreet sees this novel as his interpretation of the concept.<br /><br />The interviewer asked again, more specifically, what this book was about. Here is the answer:<br /><blockquote>After Auralia’s Colors, I wanted to explore what might happen if a beastman came into contact with the same mysterious beauty that Auralia unleashed upon the world. Right away, I realized that this story was a strange variation on “Beauty and the Beast.” But in my version, “beauty” meant something different. Here was a woman broken by grief, and a man broken by a curse. Both were drawn to the same magical, beautiful place. Their shared experience of that beauty became the core of the story.</blockquote><br />From this quote I gather that Overstreet's theme for <a href=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a> is that of healing the brokenness. Many people have difficult things in their lives. Some--a few--have been truly broken by deep pain. It is to these that Overstreet extends his story of healing. Tomorrow we'll look at the opening sequence, where you'll get an idea of what pain is found in the midnight Cyndere endures.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-26784539977404332302009-02-16T09:33:00.003-07:002009-02-16T09:38:42.585-07:00Book Tour--Cyndere's Midnight by Jeffrey OverstreetIn the past few years I've had the privilege of reading quite a few speculative fiction releases by various Christian authors through the <a href="http://www.csffblogtour.com" target="_blank">Christian Science Fiction Fantasy Blog Tour</a>. There have been very few that I simply didn't like, but there have been equally few that I have <b>loved</b>. <a href=" http://www.sharonhinck.com/the-sword-of-lyric-series" target="_blank">The Sword of Lyric series by Sharon Hinck</a> are amongst the truly loved...and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1400072522" target="_blank">Auralia's Colors</a> by Jeffrey Overstreet. Even though it was written in omni.<br /><br />I talked about Auralia's Colors <a href="http://invalslittleworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-tour-auralias-colors.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://invalslittleworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-tour-auralias-colors-day-2.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://invalslittleworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/bood-tour-auralias-colors-day-3.html" target="_blank">here</a> when I read it just over a year ago. I looked forward to the second novel in the series and have recently completed reading it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SZmV9z1ZktI/AAAAAAAAATI/y0mb4b2ZuSY/s1600-h/51NOG6m1dzL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m41tc6ViD58/SZmV9z1ZktI/AAAAAAAAATI/y0mb4b2ZuSY/s320/51NOG6m1dzL._SS500_.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303434925324210898" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a> is the second *strand* in The Auralia Thread series. At the end of the first book Auralia herself disappeared. Not in a way that smacked of foul play, just that her initial job was done. So while she doesn't really play an immediate role in this second novel, the mark she left on The Expanse is still growing and still affecting everyone she came in contact with.<br /><br />About the only thing I didn't love about the first novel was <a href=" http://lookingcloser.org/category/journal/" target="_blank">Jeffrey Overstreet</a>'s use of omniscient point-of-view. I quickly got sucked into the novel anyway and found it didn't bother me once I was immersed. In <a href=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a> I found that Overstreet used a limited third viewpoint and that it helped me to feel closer to the characters.<br /><br />There are four major players in this novel, some of whom we knew well from the prequel: the ale boy, who still doesn't have a name; Cal-Raven, now king of the remnant of Abascar; and the beastman, Jordam, whom Auralia's colors had *tamed*. Cyndere is new--I don't remember if she was mentioned in the previous novel or not, but she definitely wasn't a player.<br /><br />Cyndere and her husband had a dream to help the beastmen to throw off the curse that had brought down their house, but Cyndere's husband was killed by the beastmen while trying to make contact. Devastated, Cyndere swings between severe depression and hints of hope that the dream might yet become a reality. When she and Jordam meet at a mysterious well where Auralia's colors are prevalent, the world of The Expanse is set upon a new course.<br /><br />Tomorrow we'll have a look at some of the prevalent themes in <a href=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072530" target="_blank">Cyndere's Midnight</a>, but if you are interested in reading what other bloggers are saying about this book in the meanwhile, check out these links: <br /><a href="http://www.christiansciencefiction.blogspot.com"> Brandon Barr</a>, <a href="http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/"> Keanan Brand</a>, <a href="http://bookshiddencorner.blogspot.com/"> Rachel Briard</a>, <a href="http://www.thebooknook08.blogspot.com "> Melissa Carswell</a>, <a href="http://www.the160acrewoods.com/"> Amy Cruson</a>, <a href="http://csffblogtour.com/"> CSFF Blog Tour</a>, <a href="http://word-up-studies.blogspot.com"> Stacey Dale</a>, <a href="http://www.scificatholic.com/"> D. G. D. Davidson</a>, <a href="http://sjdeal.blogspot.com"> Shane Deal</a>, <a href="http://scriptoriusrex.blogspot.com/"> Jeff Draper</a>, <a href="http://projectinga.blogspot.com/"> April Erwin</a>, <a href="http://virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/"> Karina Fabian</a>, <a href="http://askandrea.adamsweb.us/"> Andrea Graham</a>, <a href="http://anewnovelistsjourney.blogspot.com"> Todd Michael Greene</a>, <a href="http://writingchristiannovels.blogspot.com/"> Katie Hart</a>, <a href="http://fantasythyme.blogspot.com"> Timothy Hicks</a>, <a href="http://tiredgarden.info"> Jason Isbell</a>, <a href="http://www.spoiledfortheordinary.blogspot.com/"> Jason Joyner</a>, <a href="http://www.struggleandemerge.com/blog/"> Kait</a>, <a href="http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/"> Carol Keen</a>, <a href="http://sparksoflava.blogspot.com/"> Magma</a>, <a href="http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/"> Rebecca LuElla Miller</a>, <a href="http://www.questwriter.blogspot.com/"> Eve Nielsen</a>, <a href="http://linalamont.blogspot.com"> Nissa</a>, <a href="http://betterfiction.com/blog/"> Wade Ogletree</a>, <a href="http://www.leastread.blogspot.com/"> John W. Otte</a>, <a href="http://otter.covblogs.com/"> John Ottinger</a>, <a href="http://ansric.blogspot.com/"> Steve Rice</a>, <a href="http://prochristroetlibertate.blogspot.com/"> Crista Richey</a>, <a href="http://thewritinglifeforme.blogspot.com/"> Alice M. Roelke</a>, <a href="http://www.chawnaschroeder.blogspot.com/"> Chawna Schroeder</a>, <a href="http://www.jamessomers.blogspot.com/"> James Somers</a>, <a href="http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/inklings/"> Rachel Starr Thomson</a>, <a href="http://www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php"> Robert Treskillard</a>, <a href="http://christiansf.blogspot.com/"> Steve Trower</a>, <a href="http://specfaith.ritersbloc.com/"> Speculative Faith</a>, <a href="http://frederation.wordpress.com"> Fred Warren</a>, <a href="http://www.novelteen.com/"> Jill Williamson</a>Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9896011.post-51625663455695808542009-02-13T21:43:00.003-07:002009-02-13T21:56:30.386-07:00Multiple GenresThe romance revision is going well. I cleared 12K this week, officially 20% of the rewrite. I've written a couple of all new scenes, ransacked some old ones for usable information, and rewritten some that just needed wording beefed up. Looking ahead at the outline, about the next six or seven scenes are all new material, taking the place of the section I mentioned in a previous post (where the original scenes got <i>Seriously????</i> scrawled in the margin!) I'm pretty pleased with the results thus far.<br /><br />So, some may think I'm crazy entering three novels in three different genres into the Genesis contest this year. I may well be. I know the official wisdom is that it's hard enough to make a go of writing in one genre, and that writing in several (unless you're REALLY FAST, like <a href="http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">PaperBackWriter</a>) is a ridiculous concept. It confuses your readers (should one be lucky enough to ever get any, lol) and makes focusing your marketing difficult. <br /><br />Well, that's all true, but at this moment no one is beating down my door offering me any publishing deals, so I'm still experimenting and finding my voice. I love fantasy, but in the process of writing several speculative novels (and having a few more in the wings) I'm finding the types of it that I like to write--and won't bother focusing any more on the ones that don't call me as much. And while I don't read a lot of romance or *women's fiction*, I've met some I really enjoyed a lot. So I'm experimenting.<br /><br />I guess this means that whichever genre door opens for me (if any) I'll walk through. Maybe at that point I'll try to juggle more than one, maybe I won't. But for now it's a moot point.Valerie Comerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06674882711125123089noreply@blogger.com2